Storage rack and sprinkler arrangement



y 1970 D. J. LILLIBRIDG E ET AL 3,520,345

STORAGE BACK AND SPRINKLER ARRANGEMENT Filed May 24.

INVENTORS 0. a. L/LL/BR/DGE LAWRENCE 6. PECK 92wm V WW/fr TOR/VEYS3,520,345 STORAGE RACK AND SPRINKLER ARRANGEMENT Duane J. Lillibridge,St. Charles, and Lawrence G. Peck, Tinley Park, Ill., assignors toUnarco Industries, Inc., of the State of Illinois Filed May 24, 1968,Ser. No. 731,782 Int. Cl. E041) 1/92; A62c 31/24, 37/10 US. Cl. 159-2Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A storage rack and sprinklerarrangement wherein vertical tubular supports, having alternately spacedsprinkler heads thereon, vertically support the racks whilesimultaneously conveying fire extinguishing liquid to the sprinklerheads. The vertical tubular supports and/ or other vertical racksupports may also support a roof and wall panels to provide a structurefor enclosing the racks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a storage rack andsprinkler arrangement and, more particularly, to a new and improvedarrangement where the sprinkler fluid conveying conduits are arranged toact as support members themselves.

Fire sprinkler systems are usually required, by local law, to beinstalled in warehouse and other article storage areas. Previoussprinkler systems were installed as separate building accessories andwere related to the articles stored and the racks that they were storedupon only to the extent that the sprinkler heads were generally locatedin the same building space as the articles and racks. Such priorarrangements necessitated the extensive repetitive use of separatestructural construction materials to support the article storage racks,the roof and walls of the building and the sprinkler system itself. Suchrepetitive use of structural materials was wasteful of both time andmaterials. Moreover, the sprinkler heads were frequently located asubstantial distance from the stored articles and their storage racks,thereby substantially reducing the systems effectiveness in the event offire.

It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide a newand improved storage rack and sprinkler arrangement which substantiallyreduces the expenditure of both time and materials and in which thesprinkling assembly is itself utilized as a support structure.

It is also a principal object of the invention to provide a new andimproved storage rack and sprinkler arrangement wherein the sprinklerheads are arranged in close proximity to the stored articles to providean effective extinguishing arrangement in the event of fire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a principal aspect, the invention takes theform of a new and improved interrelationship of a fire extinguishingassembly with the storage racks and the building structure which thesystem is designed to protect. Sprinkler heads are vertically arranged,proximate to the storage racks, upon an extinguishing fiuid carryingtubular support. The tubular support is positioned to support thestorage racks and/ or the roof and side panels of a building structurewhich houses the storage racks.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood when considering the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the course of the description,reference will frequently be made to the attached drawings, in which:

United States Patent 0 FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a preferredembodiment of the storage rack, building structure and sprinklerarrangement of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of said embodiment of the invention taken alongline 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevation view of the sprinkler and rackarrangement of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the sprinkler and rack arrangement ofFIG. 4 rotated DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring toFIG. 1, one or more metal storage racks 10 are provided for the storageof articles. Each of the storage racks 10 includes a plurality ofvertical supports 12 and a plurality of horizontal supports 14 and 15extending along the depth and length, respectively, of the racks 10.Additional ancillary supports 16 may be provided, if necessary, toprovide a stable, rigid storage rack assembly. All of the horizontalsupports 14 support storage shelves 18 which, in turn, carry either thearticles themselves or pallets filled with the articles, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 5.

The storage racks 10 are further vertically supported by verticaltubular supports 20 which are an integral part of the racks and whichare interspersed between the vertical supports 12, as shown in FIGS. 2and 3. These tubular supports 20 perform both the latter mentionedsupport function as Well as operate to deliver fire extinguishing fluid,such as water, to the storage racks 10 and the articles stored thereon.To provide for ease in attaching the horizontal supports 14 to thetubular supports 20, the tubular supports are preferably square orrectangular in cross-section. Each of the tubular supports 20 isconstructed of suitable materials and is of suitable thickness towithstand the pressure of the water therein and also the stressesproduced by the structures which they support. More specifically, eachof the tubular conduits, when finally installed, is adapted to pass theparticular fire code test requirements of the locality for firesprinkler systems which, for example in some localities, is 200 p.s.i.for two hours. The tubular supports 20 include a plurality of branchconduits 22 spaced along their length and extending angularly therefrom.Disposed at the end of each of the branch conduits 22, is a conventionalheat actuated sprinkler head 24. Preferably, each of the branch conduitsand sprinkler heads is disposed upon alternating sides of its tubularsupport 20. Hence, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper branch conduit 22 andsprinkler head 24 extend to the right of the tubular support 20 whilethe next adjacent lower branch conduit 22 and sprinkler head 24 extendto the left of its tubular support 20. The alternating verticaldisposition of the sprinkler heads along its tubular support 20 avoidsthe possible situation from arising where the spray produced upon theinitiation of one sprinkler head would cool the adjacent sprinkler headto the extent that its sprinkling action would not be initiated.However, the sprinkler heads 24 may, in the alternative, be located onone or all sides of the tubular support, if desired.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a suitable main 26, which is connected to awater supply under pressure, is connected to, and operates to supply,each of the tubular supports by connecting branch conduits 28. The pointof connection of the branch conduits 28 to the tubular supports 20 isspaced a short distance above the lowest extending portion of thetubular supports. Such displacement provides a sump 34 at the verybottom of the tubular supports 20. The sump acts to collect dirt, scaleand other foreign matter which might plug the sprinkler heads 24 duringtheir operation. The foreign matter tends to settle in sump 34 where itmay be periodically withdrawn by a valved tap 36 which is located at thebottom of the sump. The main 26 may be located at the top of the tubularsupports, if desired, the sump still being provided at the bottom of thetubular supports.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the tubular supports 20 preferably includesat its top, a pressure relief valve 30. The purpose of pressure reliefvalve 30 is to relieve any steam which might be generated in the waterwithin the tubular support, by transfer of heat thereto through thesupport in the event of fire. Such steam, if generated, would impede thecontinuous flow of water to the sprinkler heads 24. Also disposed at thetop of each of the tubular supports 20 is a valved tap 32 for bleedingtrapped air from each tubular support when the system is initiallycharged with water.

In one embodiment of the invention, the tubular supports 20, in additionto vertically supporting the storage racks 10, also support the buildingstructure which houses the storage racks. As shown in FIGS. 1 and .2, aroof 38 is provided having a plurality of generally horizontal trusses40. The tops of the storage racks may be adjacent the trusses 40 or theymay be disposed a short distance below the trusses as shown in FIG. 1.In either instance, the tops of the tubular supports are arranged insupporting relationship with their associated trusses 40 such that thesupports also support the trusses and their associated roof. The tubularsupports 20 of the storage racks about the outer periphery of thestorage area, may also include suitable fasteners 44 for attachingbuilding wall panels 42. Thus, a complete building structure may beprovided wherein the tubular supports 20, not only deliver water to thefire extinguishing sprinkler heads, but also support the storage racksas well as the building structure surrounding the storage racks.Preferably, the fasteners 44 are afiixed to the tubular supports by amethod which avoids puncturing the tubular supports, e.g. welding.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 3, wherein the tubular supports 20which deliver the fire extinguishing water only support the storageracks 10. The roof truss 40 and/or building wall panels 42 are supportedby at least some of the vertical supports 12 of the storage racks. Thisembodiment is desirable where it is sought to minimize the stresseswhich bear upon the pressurized water carrying tubular supports 20. Eachof the embodiments shown in FIGS. .2 and 3, eliminates the necessity ofadditional structural materials solely for support of the buildingstructure.

By utilizing the vertical water carrying tubular support 20 for thevertical support of the storage racks 10, location of the sprinklerheads closely adjacent to the stored articles themselves is madepossible rather than merely locating the sprinkler system in the samespace as the articles. Thus, while minimizing the amount of constructionmaterials necessary, optimum fire protection capabilities within thestorage space may be realized. Moreover, the arrangement wherein eitherthe tubular supports 20 or the vertical supports 12 support the storageracks 10, the roof 38, and/or the wall panels 42, a substantialreduction in the amount of construction material necessary to completethe entire storage assembly is made possible. The arrangement of thepresent invention is particularly suited for use with prefab orpreconstruction techniques.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention which havebeen described are merely illustrative of a few applications of theprinciples of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An article storage arrangement having at least one fire protectedrack which includes a plurality of tiers for the storage of articles,said arrangement comprising;

tubular support means both supporting tiers of said rack and constructedto convey a pressurized fire extinguishing liquid therethrough,

a supply main communicating with the interior of said tubular supportmeans to supply the interior of said support means with said pressurizedfire extinguishing liquid, and

a plurality of sprinkler means communicating with the interior of saidtubular support means at spaced intervals along its length andpositioned adjacent tiers of the rack, said sprinkler means includingmeans to actuate said sprinkler means in response to heat in the eventof fire to initiate a substantial flow of said pressurized extinguishingliquid through said tubular support means and to discharge said flowingliquid to said tiers.

2. The article storage arrangement of claim 1, further including;

a roof structure disposed over said rack, and

at least some of said tubular support means which convey said fireextinguishing liquid also helping to support said roof structure.

3. The article storage arrangement of claim 1 wherein said rack includesfastening means for attaching and supporting a wall structure whereby anenclosure may be provided to enclose said rack.

4. The article storage arrangement of claim 3 wherein said fasteningmeans are disposed on at least some of said tubular support means ofsaid racks.

5. The article storage arrangement of claim 1, wherein each tubularsupport of the tubular support means includes pressure relief meansadjacent its uppermost end.

6. The article storage arrangement of claim 1, wherein said tubularsupport is of rectangular cross-section.

7. A construction as in claim 1 wherein the sprinkler means includes aplurality of heat actuated sprinkler heads each positioned and arrangedso as not to be inhibited in operation by spray from another sprinklerhead.

8. A construction as in claim 1 wherein a portion of each tubularsupport of said tubular support means includes a tubular portion locatedlower than the point of communication of the tubular support to thesupply main, thereby providing a sump for the tubular support.

9. A construction as in claim 8 including means for selectivelywithdrawing liquid from the sump for the tubular support.

10. A construction as in claim 1 wherein pressure relief means areprovided for the tubular support means, for venting such steam as isgenerated by the fire extinguishing liquid that is within, or whichflows through, said tubular support means and which absorbs heattransmitted thereto through the tubular support means in the event offire.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Groneman et a1. 5.2731 X HENRY C.SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner S. D. BURKE, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl.X.R.

5236, 168; 2lll83; 182-52; 239209

